The Devil and Mrs Black
by greybleu
Summary: Bella marries Jacob.  Bella meets Edward.  Bella falls in love.  In that order.    Somebody's going to get hurt.  Told in 6 parts.
1. Chapter 1:  I Play My Part

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

I Play My Part

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><p>I was a beautiful bride.<p>

At least that's what everyone told me. I couldn't be sure so I believed them, because I can't trust my own judgment.

I never could. You can't trust yourself when you don't know your motives, and you can't have a motive when you don't care about anything.

I don't care about anything.

I am an actor. I play my part. But you won't see me on any television set or in any theater. I play my part in the human race. I live my days, smiling when I'm supposed to, crying when I should be moved. I never do those things when I am alone.

I used to be called cold-hearted and heartless. I've been called a robot. That was all before I learned to pretend. It's just easier for everybody. I used to wonder if there was something wrong with me. But they were fleeting thoughts. I don't wonder that anymore. That's one of the perks of being dead inside – you don't dwell on things.

So here I was, marrying Jacob Black. Strong, dependable, reliable Jacob Black. He, who was in love with me. He, who finally worked up the nerve to ask me out. He, who declared himself my boyfriend. He, who proposed. Everyone said I should marry him. So I said yes. I trusted everyone's judgment.

Maybe I should have trusted my own. Then maybe everything wouldn't have gone to shit.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back to the wedding.

"Do you, Isabella Swan, take Jacob Black to be your..." whatever?

"I do."

"Do you, Jacob Black, take Isabella Swan to be your..." everything?

"I do."

And just like that, we were married.

Our honeymoon was... nice. I don't know what honeymoons are supposed to be like, so I can't compare. He caressed me like I was fragile, handled me like I might break.

Maybe he knew something I didn't.

He made love to me and whispered breathy I love you's in my ear.

When we first started dating, he told me he loved me almost immediately. It made me question his sincerity, but I didn't question it for long.

I didn't say it back. Not even at our wedding. He said I didn't have to. He said he had enough love for the both of us. He said I would love him someday. He said he was a patient man.

On our honeymoon, after he finished making love to me, I finally said, "I love you." He smiled and cried and kissed me like it was the end of the world. Even though I lied. I threw him a bone. I played my part.

He could be as patient as Job. I wasn't going to love anybody. But I could wound plenty.

But I'm getting ahead of myself again.

This is the story of how I ruined lives. I warn you, it's not a pretty story, but it had pretty people.

Maybe they won't seem pretty to you, but they were beautiful to me. That is, until I changed all that.

I was only playing my part.


	2. Chapter 2: Beautiful Creatures

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Beautiful Creatures

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><p>Jacob and I kept a nice household.<p>

Like I said, I don't care about anything, so not being rich wasn't a big deal. As long as I wasn't suffering, I could carry about as I pleased.

Jacob was a beloved teacher and coach at a nearby school, and he made a decent wage and had some money on the side. Enough so I didn't have to work. I quit my old job at a day care center because I didn't enjoy it. I don't like children. I know, I know, but I sort of fell into it. And it became exhausting pretending otherwise all day with the subjects of your dislike. Adults question you a lot less and are not as observant as children. Plus, Jake seemed to be getting ideas watching me with little kids, so I got out of there when we married.

So I had some time to figure out what I wanted to do next. Jake gave me my space and didn't question what I did every moment of the day. One of the best traits about him.

I didn't have many friends, but I knew a lot of people. I knew the importance of connections.

Among my few friends was Rosalie McCarty. Her husband Emmett and Jake were friends, and so we became friends. She wasn't heartless, but she could be unforgiving. I liked that about her. She could be a powerful friend, but a dangerous enemy. So I kept in her good graces.

Rosalie, in turn, introduced me to her old friend Alice Cullen. And that's how I met Edward.

I mentioned how I was searching for a job and Alice said her brother's work had an opening. He ran a PR firm and he needed an assistant right away. She said he ran through them quickly. I told her I would give it a try.

Edward Cullen was a handsome man. Confident and charming. But I caught glimpses of him that told me otherwise. I thought him pensive and aloof, dark and brooding. I don't think other people caught this. He was good at maintaining his image. He was good at PR.

At first, he ordered me around, giving me more work than could possibly be finished in the time he allotted. And when I failed, as he designed, he would get frustrated with me, told me I was bad at this job. I didn't argue back. But I didn't cry about it either. He didn't fire me, so I kept coming back. He eventually stopped berating me, but he continued giving me the same amount of work. I started staying after hours to finish.

I told Jake I really liked my work and didn't mind staying late so he wouldn't worry.

Did I mention I was a good liar?

The truth was, I didn't mind the work but I didn't like staying late.

After a while, after I caught up with all the work that was left me by my predecessor, Edward still gave me more than enough tasks. I began to suspect he was overworking me on purpose, making up things to do. Of course my first thought was that he was still testing me, hazing the new kid.

Then I realized he had other plans when he started showing up after hours.

The first time, he came back after he left the office already, a couple hours later with dinner and an excuse that he had unfinished work. He asked me if I was hungry. I said no even though I was. When I was leaving, he was still in his office. I knocked on his open door and asked, "Do you need anything before I leave, Mr. Cullen?"

He looked at me for a couple seconds and said, "No, thank you, Miss Black. And you can call me Edward."

"Mrs. Black."

"Excuse me?" he arched his brows.

I corrected him for the umpteenth time. "It's Mrs. Black. But," I begrudgingly said, "I guess you can call me Bella."

He gave me another piercing stare, and I thought I saw a flash of triumph cross his face. He said, "Goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight, Mr. Cullen."

After that, it became more commonplace to find us at the office at late hours. Sometimes he left for the day and returned at night. Sometimes he stayed in the office all day. Sometimes there were other workers staying late. Sometimes it was just the two of us.

Nothing indecent happened between us during that time. In fact, it was all very professional and sterile. We weren't even usually in the same room. He mainly stayed in his office while I was stationed at my desk outside his door or in the copy room.

One night when it was just the two of us left, he came out of his office with a glass of ice cubes and amber liquid in his hand. I looked up at him, waiting for him to speak.

When he finally did, he said, "What do you think of me, Bella?"

I blinked a couple times and answered, "I think you're my boss."

"What do you really think of me?"

"No comment."

He smirked. "Very good, Bella. You may have a future in PR yet." He tilted his head slightly, gave a bemused smile, and returned to his office. I saw him sit back in his chair, reclining, and prop his feet up on the edge of his desk. I heard the clinking of ice on glass as he sipped staring out at the night through his window.

What I didn't voice, what I really thought of him then was that he seemed sad. And as I saw him alone in his office, I thought, what a sad and beautiful creature.


	3. Chapter 3: Enigma

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Enigma

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><p>I would come home late from work, take a shower, and go to bed. Sometimes Jake made dinner when he was home early, or we ordered out. Other times, we would find our own meals after work.<p>

And I would have sex with Jacob when I wasn't too tired to show him I was content with him.

Jacob was an attentive lover, always thinking of me first. He was very well-endowed but unreasonably had not had many partners before me.

I was not for want of anything.

Or at least that's what I thought at the time.

I didn't have desire in my heart. I didn't have anything in my heart.

And I think that's what attracted Edward to me.

He saw me as a challenge. A challenge his ego couldn't resist.

He later denied it. He said I had it all wrong. He said he saw something in me. A light, or something. I told him he needed his eyes checked. He told me he was drawn to me, inexplicably, against his will, like a moth to a flame, to be devoured, to be consumed and spit out at death's door. I told him he was being dramatic. He said I brought it out in him. I advised him not to play with fire then. He said, "You can't fight fate."

I wish he had tried.

He said I scared him. He said no other woman had done that to him.

No other woman will again.

He said his looks, his charm, his money, his most powerful weapons had no effect on me. He was rendered powerless, and he didn't like the feeling. In his desperation, he drowned me in work. He thought this would wear me out, break me down. He both hoped and feared I would quit. When I didn't, he wanted me more but didn't know how to possess me.

He tried talking to me more, but I didn't make it easy on him. I wasn't receptive to his small talk, to his efforts to get to know me, to ingratiate himself into my life.

By then, I had begun to suspect he wanted to be more than just my boss. He was subtle about it though, to be sure. The other girls around the office received the benefit of his effortless charm and manners while he treated me like a servant, which was fine by them. I was one less competitor in their eyes.

And it was fine by me, by all means. If it were true.

I may have been indifferent, but I wasn't oblivious. I caught him more than once staring at me, at first with eyes of curiosity, then covetously. But never when others were looking. He was very careful.

He's done this before, I thought.

One day, when I was helping him on a project in the conference room, he turned to me and asked, "Are you happy?"

"Yes," I answered brusquely. I was flipping through some papers and I didn't even stop and turn to give him my full attention. It was my token response to that question.

"Aren't you going to ask me?"

I exhaled, paused my paper shuffling, and turned to look at him. "Are you happy, Mr. Cullen?"

His green eyes looked meaningfully into my brown ones. "I am extremely... unhappy."

"You should do something about that." Curtness was all I could offer.

"Maybe I should get married."

"Maybe."

"Does it make you happy?"

"Yes."

"Hm. Your husband is a lucky man," he said. "Yes, a very lucky man."

"He knows."

"I'm sure he does. Though if I were him, I wouldn't let you out of my sight."

I had to roll my eyes. "I do what I want."

"That's exactly why I'd keep my eye on you."

"Possessive and paranoid. You'll make an excellent husband one day."

He gave a short laugh. "You think so?"

"No."

He gave me a bemused look and returned to his work.

His behavior towards me became erratic. Sometimes he would greet me indifferently, often avoiding my gaze. Some days he would be outwardly irritated with everything I did, only to eye me remorsefully later. I took it all unquestioningly which only seemed to frustrate him further.

He would later come to ask me, "Do you know what it feels like to be in love with someone who loves someone else?"

"No," would be my answer.


	4. Chapter 4: Taken

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Taken

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><p>I didn't set out to seduce him. I didn't intend for him to fall for me. I had no grand designs.<p>

I merely let him take me.

The first time, he took me in the copy room. Wordlessly, he came and took me from behind. Wordlessly, I let him.

For a little while, he seemed to have given up. I never gave him any encouragement so that he would see the futile nature of his infatuation. He stopped talking to me about anything besides work. He even lightened up my work load, but only a little.

If anyone else knew of our situation, they might have thought he finally got the idea. But I wasn't convinced. And so when he finally fucked me, I wasn't all that surprised.

I went home that same night, showered, and got into bed next to a sleeping Jacob. I slept soundly.

Guilt is such an unwholesome feeling. Terrible and nagging. It weighs you down, wears you out. Who needs it? Certainly not me.

At work, I was the picture of cool – nonchalant and uncaring. If what happened never happened again, I was fine with it. But Edward hovered around me, making tasks for himself. I could tell he was trying to gauge some sort of reaction from me. It was all very high school.

He backed up after that. I think he sensed my irritation to his neediness. But it only lasted a few days. The next time we were alone in the office after hours, he charged me from the front.

Edward kissed me like there was no tomorrow. He kissed me all over. He kissed me like I was vital to his survival.

Life is funny that way.

Sometimes the way he revered my body, I thought he was literally going to devour me. His desperation to be near me meant his skin crushed mine, his body pleading to possess, trying to conquer mine. Our bodies entwined, joined at the hips, in this sweet, rapturous battle.

Needless to say, the sex was good. Which probably prevented me from ending the whole affair, even when Jacob found out.

To my credit though, Jacob didn't find out for a while. Not until Edward was fully invested in me. And even then, my poor husband only found out because Edward had wanted him to against my wishes.

I never set out to hurt them and cause all that happened. I wasn't twiddling my thumbs in the darkness scheming all this. But I didn't exactly prevent our lives from careening into each other either. Hindsight is 20/20, but that didn't mean I couldn't see what lay in front of me.

Some like to think people can change. Some hold on to the belief we never truly do. I don't know which is true, but whether people change or not, I know feelings do.

Edward became unsatisfied with only having me for our trysts. He wanted me to leave Jacob, but I told him I wouldn't.

"Why?" The way he looked at me then could've broken my heart. If I had one.

"I won't be your girlfriend or your wife. You have me as I am."

He wrapped his hands firmly where my shoulders met my neck. "I have your body when you are not with him. I want your heart, your soul. I want you whole."

What he didn't want to acknowledge was that I was never whole. There was no whole to give.

So I merely said, "I'll never love you." His grip tightened for an instant before losing all strength and conviction.

I left him standing there where he stood.


	5. Chapter 5: The Light

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>This is the last chapter before the epilogue.<p>

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

The Light

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><p>"Were you with him?"<p>

Jacob was waiting at our little kitchen table, in the dark. When I came into the house and turned the light on, he startled me. Then he asked me his question.

"What?" I asked, regaining my composure. I even managed to let out a chuckle. "Why are you trying to frighten me, brooding in the dark?"

"Your boss. Cullen. Were you with him?"

"Yeah. I just got off work."

"Must we continue this charade?"

Actually, I knew this was coming. Edward had become uncontrollable and careless. He wanted to be found out. He no longer kept his longing looks secret at work. The other workers had caught on, and Jacob would sometimes stop by to see me, more often lately since he began to suspect.

I sighed and said, "We must."

Objects went flying and clanging as Jacob swept his arm across the table knocking everything off.

"Are you going to leave me?"

"No," I answered.

"Will you stop seeing him?"

"Yes."

He scrutinized me with questioning eyes and scoffed. "You mean it, don't you?"

"Yes."

"I guess I don't need to ask this, but do you love him?"

"No."

I could see pain on his face as he tried to will himself to ask the next question. "Do you love me?"

I took a moment before answering, "No."

"You'll never love anyone, will you?" There was that heart-breaking look again. Except, this time I thought I heard a crack.

"No." After a pause, I started to say, "Jacob, I..."

That's when a knocking on the door interrupted me. Jacob looked to me for an answer to who was at the door. I looked at him blankly in response. His face then turned into an accusing glare, and I had an idea who he thought it was. He disappeared from view to answer the door. I waited by myself in the kitchen while I tried to figure out what to say to him when he returned.

When he returned, he wasn't alone.

I stood wide-eyed and paralyzed. I knew Edward wanted to possess me, I just didn't think he was crazy enough to actually do something about it.

Jacob walked away from him toward me, standing to face him in front of me, slightly obscuring my view of my former lover. I peered beside my husband to get a clearer view. Edward had come armed. I moved my sight from the barrel of the gun to his face.

What are you doing, I thought. I thought it, but I didn't dare say it. Besides, I had a vague idea of what he was doing. I just didn't get the sanity of it.

"What do you think you're doing?" my husband asked for me.

"Shut up," Edward commanded. "I didn't come here for you, but don't think I won't change my mind."

"And you think I would just let you leave here with my wife at gunpoint and I wouldn't come after you?"

"You can search all you like. You won't find us where we're going."

"Grip that gun tighter, because you'll need to hold onto that. You won't get Bella any other way. She doesn't love you."

"She doesn't love you!"

I'm right here, I wanted to say. But I knew when to keep my mouth shut. Honestly, I didn't know whether I wanted to stay or go. And I couldn't say whether if I left I wouldn't return home or if I stayed I wouldn't run away. But as I watched the two men in my life fight stubbornly for me, I thought I sure knew how to pick 'em.

"I don't care where your money hides you, I will find you. And then I will kill you." I looked over at my husband. His demeanor exuded calm, like he had no doubts in his body. Jacob was not a man to make empty threats.

And neither was Edward. "Yes. I can see that you mean it. It's Bella." He smiled remorsefully. "She has this hold on us, doesn't she?" Edward kept his gun pointed at Jacob but trained his eyes on me. "I don't know if you're my salvation or if you crawled out of some hell to torment me. But I can't live without you. As I'm sure your husband understands." He turned his glare back to Jacob and said, "So I think you'll empathize with my need to do this. I'm sorry, but it's you or me."

BANG!

Jacob was pushed down with an invisible force. Except, it wasn't invisible. I just didn't see it. It was small and it was fast, and it ripped my husband's chest open. And as his body fell to the ground next to me, his body grazed mine and dragged me down, too.

I recovered from the fall quickly and called, "Jacob? Jacob!" I pressed down on the hole in his chest as his life flowed out of him. But I wasn't fast enough or strong enough or good enough to prevent his death. He died in my arms.

I felt tugging on my arm, and I was snapped out of my grief. I was briefly confused to find Edward trying to pull me away, but I was even more surprised to realize I had just been consumed by grief.

"We have to go, Bella."

"Go? Go where? I can't go anywhere now. You just killed my husband!"

"You're free now." He pulled me up and toward him, but I squirmed away from him.

"Free? I was always free! Jacob let me do whatever I wanted and never asked a thing of me! He never even asked me to love him! But, you! You want to possess me! You want to own my love! And now you've killed for it. But guess what? I still don't love you." I got up right to his face and said slowly and venomously so he would understand, "I. Don't. Love. You. You said it's him or you? It's neither. I don't love anyone."

He looked at me with pained eyes, and I actually felt a fleeting moment of satisfaction. Maybe he finally understood. And pain always gets you off your guard, which is how I so easily slipped the gun in his hand.

I think now that perhaps he knew what he was doing letting me take his gun. His expression still haunts me sometimes. Maybe knowing an end was coming to that much hurt was welcome.

But whatever he was thinking at the time, I was thinking he should've listened to Jacob when he advised Edward to keep a tight grip on his gun because it was his undoing. Or maybe meeting me was his undoing.

I lifted the gun and pointed it at Edward, my boss, my lover, my killer. And my finger pulled the trigger.

I told you I didn't care about anything. I told you I was dead inside. I told you I didn't love anyone.

I told you I was a good liar.

And love is a sneaky bastard.

I cried over my dead lover as I cried over my slain husband.

And I suddenly remembered a moment Edward and I had shared.

He asked me, "Do you know what it feels like to be in love with someone who loves someone else?"

We had been lying in bed next to each other. He often got sentimental after sex. I didn't.

"No," I answered.

He smiled weakly at me for a while and the moisture in his sad eyes caught the glint of light. He leaned his head back on his hands and closed his eyes, letting a tear escape.


	6. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I own nothing Twilight. I merely play with the characters for entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

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><p>Epilogue<p>

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><p><em>The<em>_ Devil__ and __Mrs.__ Black_. That's what the papers called it. They tried to villainize Edward, said he seduced a happily married woman. Those who knew Edward couldn't believe it. They thought the devil wasn't Edward but that the devil had had his hand in this whole affair.

But even those who knew and loved Edward couldn't deny the fact that it was his gun and that he had come to our home. They couldn't deny the fact that he shot Jacob dead.

Maybe Edward was the devil. Maybe the devil did influence us. Or maybe the devil and Mrs. Black were one and the same...

I told the police I had an affair with Edward. I told the police I ended the affair with Edward. I told them how Edward came to our home with a gun and killed Jacob. I told them how Edward was going to kidnap me. Now, this is the important part. I told them I feared for my life. I told them he shot Jacob with such hatred and madness I was sure he would kill me also. I told them he threatened me and I was able to wrestle the gun away from him. I told them he lunged at me and I shot him.

They saw how grief-stricken I was. I cried more during that time than I had my entire life. I knew how to play my part. But it was all worth it in the end. I escaped any further investigation. And more importantly, I escaped my life.

So here I am, on a beautiful beach somewhere in the world. It doesn't matter where, just know you won't find me.

As I sip my drink enjoying the sunset, a man steps in front of my chair and blocks my view. He's tall and beautiful. And blonde. I could do with a change of pace.

"You're in my light," I say lifting up my sunglasses to get a better view of him. "Why don't you take a seat?" I nod to the lounge chair next to mine.

He sits down and says, "Thanks. I'm Jasper."

I run my sights up and down his beautiful body. "Nice to meet you, Jasper," and I give him a smile that could kill.

Now, you may be asking yourself, was it all an act? Was any of it true? Did she really fall in love? Did she love either of them?

I've told you my side of the story. I told you everything I'm going to tell you. I even warned you that I'm a good liar.

So, you tell me.


End file.
